Explore the Cultures of India, Nepal, and Thailand

I personally wanted to experience life outside of North America and Europe--see things I'd never seen and do things I'd never done. Most importantly, I wanted to challenge myself and the way I thought about the world. I had the most incredible experience of my life with YI. I'm not going to lie here: there are some really hard times--struggles adjusting. struggles with culture shock, struggles with the physical aspects (the treks, the hiking)--, but it is, without a doubt, all worth it. I learned so much about myself through the hardest times. Also, some of the best food in the world, easily.
YI also is so fairly priced! When I went in fall 2012, the cost of the program included the cost of flights, which was just unheard of, but we realized that there wasn't enough money set aside for all meals all the time--and we had a big screw up with a delayed flight that ended up costing YI a lot of money--, so they stopped covering flights and lowered the price a bit, adjusting for an increased food budget (which they handed out to us on the days when we didn't have group activities). Even considering that, the program is still very well priced. Many programs cost upwards of 12 or 13 thousand without flights and certainly without all of the incredible activities and experiences of YI.

I can't even begin to express how amazing this program is. It is a perfect combination of seeing a whole lot and also being embedded deep into the culture. Some of the fondest memories of my life are being in a remote village in India with no electricity and no one who spoke English. And yet, somehow, we were able to communicate through lingual and cultural boundaries and bond so much that we all cried when leaving a week later. This program also does an amazing job of stretching your money to see a whole lot. I highly recommend it.

I went on the Asia Trip in the fall of 2009 just after I graduated from high school. I knew I wasn't quite ready for college but I wanted to do something exciting and worth while. YI was exactly what I wanted. Just hours after getting off the plane in Bangkok we were walking around Thai open-air markets and century old palaces. Our first home stay was the perfect introduction to set the feel of the trip. We stayed and learned a lot about the indigenous people of the South Asian areas, which I'm now able to connect to nearly all of my college classroom topics. The time we spent with the Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala has stayed close to my heart ever since we left.
The entire trip was life changing and definitely shaped my future. I'm currently an International Studies Major with an Asian Studies focus and I'm leaving in about a month to study abroad for an entire year at the University of Hyderabad in India! Had it not been for YI I never would've had the courage and confidence to do this. I am so grateful for my experience and I wouldn't change it for anything.
I wish Brad would spend more money on advertising so everyone would know what a fabulous program he's made, but he truly gives everything he has into the experience.

I did this trip in 2004 when I was 19. I had never left the country before, didn't speak any foreign languages, and was a year into a philosophy degree. My life has never been the same.

Within a week of getting on the plane in LA, I was living alongside Akha hill-tribesman in northern Thailand, eating dinner with the family, learning local words from the children, and participating in a village-wide plumbing project. Over the next three months, I lived with four host families; experienced how remarkably similar people are, regardless of context; and learned enough about development projects to know how much more I needed to know. Most of all, I found a calling.

Today I speak three languages, have traveled to ten countries, lived through a government revolution while in the Peace Corps, and work evaluating human experiences.

This is the path Youth International started me on. Where will it lead you?

I went on a Youth International program during a year off before college in 2005 and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has a great balance of volunteer work, homestays, tourism, and treking. I recommend the program to anyone I know who is interested in international volunteering on a year or semester off.

It would be no stretch to say that YI change my life and had a profound effect on my career and life choices - I finished my Masters in International Health a year ago and am working for a global humanitarian organization in New York right now. I've traveled to almost 30 countries and it was YI that originally set me on this wonderful path!